PlantFiles: Spring Starflower
Ipheion uniflorum

I can imagine a blanket of these in a woodland setting but not in a regular cultivated garden--too weedy looking, IMO. I tried some but will plant no more. Instead, will focus on growing i. Rolf Fiedler, which is a showier blue and suitable for a residential as well as woodland setting.

A long-time favorite bulb of mine and harbinger of Spring here in Southern California.
It starts blooming in mid-February.

I grow the blue-flowered species (uniflorum), a white one (Albert Castillo) and Rolf Fiedler (an intense blue with bigger blooms).
All are super-easy and delightful.

They naturalize here and multiply every year.
You can't have enough of these.

Update from Lubbock, TX [elevation, 3250']
Microclimate! I transplanted one blooming clump
to the south-facing foundation of my neighbor's
house, ca. 2009. In January 2012, the clump was
in bloom in late Jan. and continued despite
snow and low temp. ca. 14F in early Feb.
>
Quite a color contrast with pink-flowering Oxalis!

I have not grown this plant. Spring Starflower (Ipheion uniflorum) is an introduced plant that can be found naturalized in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Loiusiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

I found these beautiful plants growing wild all along the banks of a creek. They are in full bloom now and have been blooming over a month. They are all growing in filtered shade and deep shade underneath trees, so full sun is not necessary. Some are almost white. They grow very shallow and transplant easily. I highly recommend them.

All the Ipheions and their related subspecies are native to South America (southern Brazil, Chili, and Uruguay) and are called Spring Starflowers. They are great naturalizing bulbs for Texas and the southern United States--but in Texas they should not be confused with either the Prairie Celestial Lily (Nemastylus geminiflora) or the Prairie Nymph (Herbertia lahue). These two species are both native to Texas and quite frankly very different with very obvious flower and bulb morphology differences from the Ipheions.

Ipheion uniflorum and other related Ipheon species bloom earlier in the season in my garden and have happily naturalized in areas with good drainage for 20 years. I love the Ipheions for their very early spring blooms!

All the Ipeion species are hardy, most are inexpensive, permanently naturalizing harmonious bulb species in the southern United States and if allowed reseed themselves will hybridize yielding very interesting color combinations.

This lovely flower was found growing at the Lady Bird Johnson wild flower center in Austin.

Ipheion grows on many lawns in semi-arid Lubbock, whether or not lawns are being watered. In my area, close to the Texas Tech Univ. campus, many homes have become rental properties for students. Walking the area in spring 2004, I was delighted to note many examples of Ipheion and Muscari.

Only in Fall 2004 did I notice the sprouting of the new season's leaves. I did not plant Ipheion, but thought the area
was the where I'd planted Chiondoxa. The Ipheion, apparently, is an heirloom along the west foundation of my
55-yr-old house. No problem with the 3° low for Dec 24/25.

Friday, a friend asked me about the "blue flower" around his grandmother's former residence -- one with leaves smelling of onions. Yes, Ipheion is an heirloom bulb over all central Lubbock!

I absolutely LOVE this flower! It multiplied from a mere 20 bulbs to hundreds in just three years! Some say it's invasive, but I say you can never have too many. It looked beautiful combined with Perrenial Candytuft and Grape Hyacinths in Zone 7. I'm in Zone 6 now and can't wait to see how well they do here.

This flower is a beautiful surprise down south when it pops up every spring in my grandmother's backyard. The bloom time is short but sweet. It looks better spreading all over a lawn, naturalized, because the foilage is so tiny, you don't notice it in your lawn the rest of the year.Great plant!

Has a scent like Violets.

Blooms best when crowded. Hardy to zone 7, zone 5 with winter mulch. Snails and slugs can be problematic.